The 5 Best Weight-Loss TV Shows, According To A Nutritionist

Tune in for healthy inspiration—no crashing or quick "fixes" involved.

Every channel seems to have its own weight-loss reality show—and for good reason. After all, who doesn’t love watching everyday people like us meet their weight-loss goals? We laugh, we cry, we get the kick in the butt we need to crush our own goals.

Unfortunately, many of these shows rely more on drastic, ratings-friendly transformations than healthy solutions. To cut through the clutter, we asked Jim White, R.D., owner of Jim White Fitness & Nutrition Studios in Virginia and a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, to share the healthiest shows to indulge your reality-loving ways—and maybe even help you on your own healthy weight-loss journey.

Photograph courtesy of Z Living Network

The Big Fat Truth

It’s no secret that, after many weight-loss shows end, former contestants tend to regain the weight they had worked so hard to lose. “Once the cameras are off, it can be tempting to cheat on your diet or use an indulgence as a reward,” says White. And, honestly, who has time for two-a-day workouts once the show is over? In Z Living’s The Big Fat Truth, however, participants are given the tools and information they need to achieve long-term health, as opposed to radical, quick-fix solutions. “A healthy lifestyle is something you have to continuously work at and maintain,” says White.

“The bond between a trainer and client is important,” White says. “Transforming to a healthy lifestyle is a drastic change that’s only more difficult without synergy between the two in the process.” So, in A&E’s From Fit to Fat to Fit, fit trainers undergo a dramatic weight-gain transformation to better relate to their overweight clients. (The trainers are under medical supervision throughout the process.) After a couple of months, the trainers are reunited with their clients, and they work together to reach their goal weights. Watch the client and the trainer struggle—and ultimately succeed—together.

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NBC’s newest makeover show doesn’t focus primarily on weight loss, but rather on finding mind-body balance. Together with their trainer, each contestant (most of whom look healthier than they really are) works to overcome mental and physical challenges, becoming stronger, better versions of themselves in the process. “Not all who appear healthy necessarily are,” White says. “I promote this show because it sheds light on society’s misconception of what it means to be fit or live a healthy lifestyle.”

This MTV original follows the struggles and successes of overweight teenagers who are desperate to lose excess weight before they reach adulthood. “I like I Used to Be Fat because it specifically reaches out to a younger crowd,” White says. Each teenager is paired with a professional trainer. “Because teenagers are supported by their parents, it can be difficult to have a say in what’s bought at the grocery store, or if he or she can have a gym membership,” White says.

This ABC weight-loss competition aims to determine which diet and exercise plan is superior for weight loss. Each contestant is paired with a celebrity trainer, with each offering a wildly different approach to diet and exercise. “Viewers are able to compare different eating techniques, and may choose to follow the diet of the team that wins and has proven most successful,” White says.

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